21st January 2026
Aashi Bains on making your “big and wild ideas” a reality
This week on ‘Ask the Winner,’ I’m talking to Aashi Bains, winner of our ‘student of the year’, the Terry Mansfield Award CBE prize for Tomorrow’s Talent a well as leading the editorial team to wins for Best Magazine, Best Front Cover and Best Printed Publication for The Beacon.
Aashi had been obsessed with working on her school magazine since she was 11 years old.
“I think from a very young age, I was very interested in journalism. I would email any paper, try and just basically write anything. Within my secondary school in Birmingham, there’s an annual school magazine and it’s a pretty big deal. We get this massive notice board in the hall, the editor-in-chief gets her own little picture. I think since joining that school when I was 11, I was thinking, ‘I’m going to be that.’”
Five years later, Aashi got her wish.
Working with 16 different creative minds
Managing a team of 16 writers, artists, and an IT specialist across a full school year required serious organisation.
Aashi’s approach? “I always valued people who brought forward new ideas. If someone came with a unique concept, I’d prioritise that over someone rehashing the same thing. You have to make executive decisions whilst also being really nice about it.”
The artistic vision was particularly special. Every illustration was original, with different artists contributing different styles throughout the magazine. “It was nice to see how everything is hand illustrated, but you can tell the artistic style differs each time. It makes the magazine feel very exciting to follow along.”
The moment at Stationers’ Hall
Handsworth had only entered the Shine School Media Award once before – the previous year, when outgoing editor Eliza Clark had won the Terry Mansfield Award. They were big shoes to fill.
“Coming to London as an 18-year-old, I thought, I am proud of this, we have to win something. There was something here. The second year, we were nominated for about five different categories.”
They won Best Front Cover first. Then Best Printed Publication. The team were doing so well.
Then came the Terry Mansfield Award. Three finalists stood on stage whilst the previous winner gave their speech.
“Eliza, who was the previous winner, is of course a Handsworth alum. So I felt that it was really unlikely. Then Eliza said, ‘I get to pass that torch on because Aashi is also the next winner of Terry Mansfield and The Beacon.’”
“The Beacon is really about passing on the light and letting the light shine on. That moment is something I think about a lot.”
Keep a note of all your ‘wild ideas’
I asked Aashi for some advice for this year’s entrants. This is what she told me;
“Keep a note of all your big and wild ideas because once you meet the right people or find the right opportunity, you’ll finally be able to let them all out. Growing up in Handsworth, I always had these small ideas of ‘this would be really fun to read about; this would be really fun to see.’ A lot of those things came out in the final publication.”
Aashi’s advice goes further: “Try and get involved with everything. Years before The Beacon came out, I felt that it was too long to wait. Let me just start my own magazine. I have so many old magazines on my old laptop, old articles I’d write just for my own enjoyment to make my own portfolio.”
“Even if it’s in your own notebook, on your voice recordings for your podcast, or on your notes page – always let those ideas come out. Once you have the platform, or once you make the platform yourself, you’ll be sorted.”
My hunch is that many students feel the same. Full of new perspectives and fresh ideas; ready to take on the world. I hope 2026 is their year!
Enter the 2026 Shine School Media Awards
Could your school magazine, newspaper or podcast be a 2026 winner? The Shine School Media Awards celebrate student journalism and school media projects that give young people a genuine voice.
Entry is free and open to all UK schools. Winners receive money-can’t-buy experiences including mentoring from industry professionals, newsroom visits and work experience opportunities.
Til next week,
Richard
Chair of Shine